How do you get a good grade for law school admissions?
The best GPA to get into law school is the one that will allow you to attend the school of your choice. This article will provide a guideline on the GPA required to be admitted to each tier of law school. We'll discuss the GPA ranges that are likely to get you into one the 100 best law schools. We will also discuss the GPA ranges of the "top 14" law school.
Here's a brief overview of why and how your GPA impacts the rankings at law schools.
Why do Law Schools require a high GPA?
Law schools consider your GPA an indicator of your ability and willingness to work hard. A good GPA can be correlated to performance in law school (though the correlation isn't as strong as the LSAT. Partly this explains the larger weighting given to the LSAT in admissions.
Students who are willing to work hard and succeed in school for law will be rewarded with a reputation that is able to bring back money to the school.
Law schools require students with high GPAs as part of their overall GPA. Here's a little bit about rankings 101: The US News and World Report ranking (USNWR), is the top ranking in the law school world. These rankings are important to law schools since law students use the rankings to determine which schools they will attend. According to USNWR's current methodology represents ten percent or more of a law school ranking.
GPA required to be a Top 100 School
Your LSAT score should be higher than your GPA. In general, law school applicants are more likely to have high GPAs than they are to have high LSAT scores. There is more of them, so the drop-off in GPAs will be less than with LSATs. The median GPA of the top 100 schools is 3.0. Only two schools are below the 25th percentile.
Let's take an overview of the T100 schools at high generality. Below is the chart that lists the 25th percentile lowest GPA in each school at this tier. In order to be considered for admission, it's a good idea to have a higher GPA than this.
| Law School Level | Lowest 25th Percentile in Tier |
|---|---|
| The top three (HYS) choices | 3.76 |
| The top six | 3.54 |
| Ten of the greatest | 3.53 |
| The top 14 [items/players/etc.] | 3.53 |
| The twenty-five best | 3.31 |
| The 50 best-rated | 3.29 |
| The best seventy-five. | 3.09 |
| The most popular one hundred | 2.95 |
It is a good rule of thumb to aim for an LSAT score of at least 75th percentile if your school has a 25th percentile GPA. High LSAT scores can make up for low GPAs. Low LSAT/Low-GPA applicants, sometimes called "soft splittingters", actually have good outcomes in law schools admissions.
What are the key conclusions you can draw from this chart about law school admissions? The majority of students who apply to law school have at least a 3.0 grade point average. American universities are able to maintain a B-average due to grade inflation. But it takes a lot more than just being a good student. These are the students that law schools seek at the highest level. They want people who are willing to put in effort. Law school does not appeal to lazy people.
It is also better to work harder. Your GPA is a key indicator of your ability to succeed in law school. Your GPA will show law schools that you are a hard worker.
